Category: all about me

all about me, happenings, photography, shiny stuff

maybe it’s a sign?

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Well, I have had a pickle of a time with trying to apply to the accelerated RN program at Perimeter, which has gotten me thinking; MAYBE this is a sign. Maybe I should be just applying to a regular BSN accelerated program; and there are two who’s deadlines are months away. So… that’s what I think I am going to do.

The only thing is, that I will have to do it full time, so I will have to figure out some way to attract a magic money fairy in order to sustain my lifestyle. Shit, maybe I’ll just borrow more money; I ONLY have 40k in student loans right now… what’s 30k more? Either way, it may not be what I planned, but it was originally what I wanted to do, so maybe it’s for the best. Now… here’s hoping I can get in. Jeez… Stress!

Also, I am seriously lusting after this lens (actually using it at lunch DID NOT HELP). I know that I said “for my birthday”, but I really want it now (don’t we all want things right away when we want them?). I am thinking about getting it soon, because I am going to NYC in a couple of weeks, and it would be PERFECT for my trip. It is difficult to justify such a massive expense, but it is worth it, right? Why can’t I win the damn lottery already??!

Ah… the things in life we stress over, right? Oh yeah, and it’s damn hot out too! HA!

all about me, happenings, is it just me?, mixed media, photography, the catch-all-egory

music, money, games, etc.

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First off, as if Weezer weren’t cool enough already, they are doing this. I love the idea of a band getting together with musician fans, and playing their hits together. If I was better at the guitar, I would totally show up and jam with them. I guess I will have to settle for jamming on the Xbox, because they have songs on Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

James recently pointed out that I had very little tread left on one of my tires, and so I figured it was about time that I take it in get a new one (it has been 30k+ miles since I got my car after all). Well, turns out, I needed two, and after getting two tires, and having them aligned and balanced, my bill came out to $640 and some change. Holy fuck balls that is a lot of money. Jebus! It has also gotten to where it costs no less than $50 to fill my tank… life is expensive, and having a car seems to have become a very MAJOR expense!

In game news, I picked up Guitar Hero On Tour after a month or so of anticipation, and overall, I think that it is an innovative use of the DS. It is a bit awkward at first to play, and it would be nicer if the top screen (which becomes your left screen when turned to play) would bend back more. Other than that, I really don’t have many complaints!! I think that it is really cool that they made it for the DS, and I am looking forward to rocking out on the go. I am seriously a GH junkie; I can’t get enough.

I think that I have decided what I want for my birthday (or really splurge and get this one which I actually think I want more, now)… now to see if James will go for it… (or at least just help me pay for it… LOL)

On a final note, I think that I am addicted to the nachos at Raging Burrito in Decatur. I will be having them for dinner tonight, and I cannot wait. Yumsicle!

all about me, five song friday, mixed media, music musings, music suggestion

5SF: june 20

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I am kind of pissed today, (ha, kind of), because I just found AGAIN, that they didn’t review my application for the nursing program because of my student status remained unchanged (despite the fact I faxed in the request to have it changed over 10 days ago… and I was told that it would take 5 days MAX to change it). Well, for those that wonder why I am such a pessimist when it comes to trying to make changes in my life, this is a good example of why. Things like this are always happening to me, and it appears that they aren’t stopping. Back to the drawing board, I guess… I am just filled with frustration and anger right now.

But don’t worry, that won’t stop me from bringing 5 songs for today… Here they are:

Lesley Roy – I’m Gone, I’m Going
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_620_lesleyroy-imgoneimgoing.mp3]
Whoa. This song is a huge, fantastic SURPRISE!!! It has all of the energy and spunk that I love in groups like Paramore; in fact, the blazing guitar riffs, and the high range of the singer borrow a lot from that sound that I love so much. With this song, this “little Irish girl” is showing us that acts like Kelly Clarkson may have to step up their game, because they are no longer alone in this music scene. If there is any justice in this world, this song is going to be HUGE!!!! I love it and I can’t wait to see what Lesley has in store for us next. I have seen some buzz about her on the internets (specifically over at arjan writes), and all of the buzz seems to be the same; this chick is hot! Here’s hoping her album comes out soon, and we get to see what she’s all about! I like what I’ve heard on her myspace, so if that is any indicator, I can tell you I am definitely looking forward to more from Ms. Roy.

The Wombats – Let’s Dance To Joy Division
While I do think this sounds like they lifted this track off of Jack Penate’s record, I have to say that the blaring similarities in style don’t stop me from liking it. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and regardless of how similar their styles are, I think there is room for both of these guys in the music world. Either way, this is a really high energy rock track, and it really makes you want to get up and dance; hell, that is what the song is about! I will admit, that listening to this song does make me want to go back and listen to Jack some more, but I look at it like this… if your style is going to be very similar to someone else’s, at least I am glad that it is similar to someone that I like, right!?!?!

Anouk – Lost
Holy fuck balls. So You Think You Can Dance is in full swing this year, and just like every year I have watched before, there are always a few songs that the kids dance to that take my breath away. This is one of those songs. It is completely beautiful and amazing. Anouk is one of those artists that I have “been meaning to download” forever, but I have never gotten to it for whatever reason. Well, I can definitely guarantee that I am paying attention now… this song is from a CD that she put out in 2004, and it is amazing. I am definitely looking forward to hearing more from Anouk. Also, I am hoping there are more discoveries like this on SYTYCD this year. Wow.

Alanis Morissette – Torch
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_620_alanismorissette-torch.mp3]
I briefly mentioned Alanis’ new album, Flavors of Entanglement last week; however, it was before I was able to truly absorb the record. I was (kind of) surprised to find a really decent effort from Alanis, not because I didn’t think she had it in her, but because of how different and ever changing her music has been in the past. Listening to Flavors, she has reminded me of why I liked her so much in the past; she has some great songs in her catalog, and with this record, she only adds to that list. This, so far, is my favorite song on the record. I love the softness of the song, and how her voice is so beautiful on it. I also love the lyrics. I am glad that Alanis is back! (Although, did she really go anywhere?!?!)

Rachael Yamagata – Reason Why
[audio:http://www.duanemoody.com/audio/fsf_620_rachaelyamagata-reasonwhy.mp3]
I can’t believe I am FINALLY featuring this song (I’ve been meaning to, but it kept getting pushed off of the list)! After seeing Rachael open for Sara Bareilles a couple of months ago, I have been absolutely smitten with this track, which in my opinion, is her most beautiful, honest, and touching. While some of her other stuff is a bit heavier than I like, this song is so light and beautiful, that you can’t help but love it. Rachael has some new material out now on an EP, and has a new album coming out this year. I can’t wait to hear it, because I really loved her in concert, and I like this album as well. This is one of those acts that not a lot of people know about, and when you hear them, you wonder why, because the talent is so clearly obvious.

Well, there’s your songs, folks. Here’s hoping I can get some resolution with my school situation. Until then, I guess it’s back to the drawing board. It’s weird how the simple things can be so hard sometimes. Oh well… such is life… my life that is. Happy Friday, y’all.

all about me, flickr, hmm interesting, photography

simplicity

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hibiscus
waking up
brushing teeth
taking pills
driving
talking
eating
leaving
sleeping

simple tasks
completed each day

happening so fast
without thought
without drive
without change

simple tasks
distract from the world around
buzzing
whirring around me

I am caught in slow motion
everything seems at a standstill
or I am moving so quickly
that it only seems to have slowed around

I am too caught in my flow
to notice the simplicity
the beauty
the difference

I am too caught in the flow
to just stop
and live for the moment

and sometimes
that is what scares me most of all

all about me, is it just me?

morning person

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Saying that I am NOT a morning person may be the understatement of the century. If it were up to me, I would get up at noon everyday (and no jokes about how I try to do so as much as possible anyway). I guess that I bring this up, because of how much James IS a morning person.

It’s weird that I ended up partnered with someone who loves mornings, and literally gets out of bed with a chipper step and song. He called me the other day at 7 AM, and starting singing about how this was birthday week… I told him I was sleeping, and that we could discuss it later.

Much later… like several hours after that call; when I was awake, not just awakened.

I guess I have always been this way, and I don’t see myself changing any time soon, but I just wonder how non-morning people like myself make themselves do it… is it drugs? Is it a magic potion brewed by unicorns delivered to you from an enchanted forest? Whatever it is, I want some, because morning time makes me want to put a pillow over my face and go right back to sleep; no matter what.

But that’s normal, right?

all about me, friends, music musings, the catch-all-egory

the day after sunday always comes again

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No matter how much one wishes the weekend would go on for at least one more day; it never seems to. Oh well. Here’s some random shenanigans that are running through my brain; which seems to typify every Monday for whatever reason.

  • Weezer’s new album comes out tomorrow. I am very excited about it, because they are one of my favorite bands. I am listening to it now, and it is definitely different than their previous records, but I think that I will really like it in the end. I always get excited when my favorite bands bring out new records… so far this year, it has been Portishead, Death Cab for Cutie, and now, Weezer; what next!?!?!?
  • I went to the EABF this weekend with Brody and Aimee, and I had a blast. We joked that it was more of a “white wine spritzer” fest for us, because we found ourselves drinking the equivalent; pear ciders galore. Hey, it was hot as fuck, and those damn things are just so tasty and refreshing. I finally tried Purple Haze (I always see it at the store and wonder about it), and it was gross. I am glad I never got any before this weekend. Overall, the day was HOT, but lots of fun. After the festival, Brody and Aimee came over for some Guitar Hero/Rock Band, and some pizza. After that, I tanked (at like 7), and didn’t wake up until 10:30. Sometimes, I think I could literally sleep forever. Either way, it was a kick ass day, and I am glad that I had such a great time with great friends.
  • I think that my ears might be almost healed. If not almost healed, they are definitely getting close. I can’t wait until I get some new jewelery for them!
  • I don’t do as much photography as I want to… I need to figure out how to remedy that; fast. We are going to Chattanooga for James’ thirtieth this weekend, so I am sure that I will be taking lots of nature pictures, so I guess that is something to look forward to with regards to that.
  • The Mole starts tonight, and I am having over some friends that I have known since high school to watch it. I can’t wait, because I LOVED this show back in the day… I just hope that it is just as good post-Anderson Cooper.
  • I felt like I had more than that, but I guess that’s about it. Hmmm… Not a lot going on with me these days, I guess.

all about me, mixed media, the catch-all-egory

my new curve

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Yesterday, at lunch, I wondered aloud to my friend Deb about how long I had to wait until I get a new phone… I am on Verizon, and I have recently started getting the itch that the end of my two years was coming up soon (around the summer usually), so when I got back to the office, I called customer service to see when I could succumb to my need for new technology. Turns out, I have been eligible since early April (thanks for telling me! Sheesh!), so off to the Verizon store I went.

When I got my Motorola Q, I really wanted a Blackberry, but at the time, there weren’t any available that had cameras, and none of those were good enough to make me want to give up having a camera on my phone. Well, recently, the Pearl came out, and I had originally thought about getting it when I had a chance, but after playing with the kinda-qwerty keyboard, I was pretty sure that preferred having a full qwerty at my disposal. After a few minutes of looking on the Verizon website, I had found what the very thing that I wanted: the Blackberry Curve. It is smaller than my Motorola Q, and it does EVERYTHING I want in a phone: email, pictures, internets, texting, qwerty keyboard, and my most wanted feature… IM.

So like I said, I was off to the Verizon store to cash in my $100 towards a new Curve. I also found out that I could get James a phone for free, so I got him the LG VX5400, which has everything his Motorola Razr has, but is just newer, more lightweight, and frankly, a bit cuter. The jury is still out on whether he likes it or not, but I have to say, that the Curve is like the best phone EVER. Seriously, I still joke that I would get my old StarTAC back in a second (I totally would), because it was the best phone I have ever had; but the Curve comes in a very, very close second. This phone rocks. The camera is great, and the internet is lightening fast. Also, I get to use the Blackberry internet plan, which is $20 cheaper than my old one. Rock!!

All in all, I got two phones, cashed in my $100 on mine, and ended up with a rebate of $100 instantly, and $50 mail in; making my Curve only $50. I am extremely happy with my purchase, and being that it was long overdue for a new phone, I couldn’t be happier that it all happened this week. So, if you have IM, make sure to hit me up; I am on yahoo (duanecmoody), AIM (theduanemoody), and even the Blackberry messenger (which I am pretty sure is only for peeps with Blackberrys).

I love a good deal, and this one was just too great not to blog about… not to mention the high I am riding after getting a shiny new piece of electronic equipment to play with!!!! Everyone loves that, right?!?! I also ordered an orange silicon case for it; which I can’t wait for. So far, I have nothing but love for the Curve! Good show, Blackberry!

"pointless", all about me, happenings, is it just me?, mixed media, venting

tuesday the 27th

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I figured it is getting a bit redundant to call these posts “random thoughts” every week, so what the fuck, I’ll change it up a bit. Regardless, here’s some random shit stewing in me brain:

  • I pre-ordered Guitar Hero On Tour for the DS today, because I saw it was coming out while I was at Best Buy returning some D-Batteries that weren’t needed. Dude; I so can’t wait for this game. I want it now, but at least with the pre-order I got an exclusive pick-stylus. I can’t wait to rock.
  • I went to Circuit City today to get God of War II, because they have it in their circular for $10, which is 50% off the retail price. That alone is worth the hassle of putting up with one of the worst companies on the planet… or is it? I went, and in typical Circuit City fashion, they didn’t have it in stock; but it wasn’t the fact that they didn’t have it that was my problem. See, I asked an “employee” (I use that term loosely, because he really didn’t do shit) to help me find it. After looking exactly where I did (where it would sit on the shelf), he informed me that they didn’t have any (REALLY, I looked their dipshit, I KNOW there are none on the shelf *face-palm*). What really topped the cake was the fact that he told me that get this… there is NO WAY for them to look up in the computer and even see if there are any copies on site. Excuse me? I loudly mouthed off about the fact that they must be the only large company that doesn’t bother with things like inventory and whatnot to my friend. What really irritates me about that, is not only can you definitely look up and see if there are any on site, but the goddamned website (that I can access at my PC anywhere in the world that has internet capability) can tell me if your store has the fucking game (I went straight from lunch, and I know now I should have looked). I complained at the front, and she apologized, but who fucking cares; Best Buy price matches, and I am going to go get it there after work. Fuck off Circuit City, you are a huge dose of assholes with a dash of mother fucker thrown on top. I don’t know if 50% off can even get me to go back (I say that, but I know I will find myself in there again someday… damn consumerism!).
  • I applied to the Nursing program at Georgia Perimeter today. The application was extremely simple (which surprised me), and I am REALLY nervous about getting in. I really, really, really want to get this degree going on the fast track, and getting in for the Spring would be like the best thing ever. I am totally crossing my fingers and toes for this one.
  • Tonight I am going with friends for dinner and karaoke, and I can guarantee I will do what I always do; I will not be able to decide which song to sing. I can always think of them when I am not really thinking about it, but when I get up to the sign in log, I just draw a blank. Weird. Any thoughts about what I should sing?
  • Three day weekends should pretty much be the standard. Seriously, having Monday off was amazingly awesome. Looking into June and July, I have two instances of “vacation” coming up, and I cannot fucking wait. I am taking James to a secluded cabin for his birthday weekend, and in July, I am going with my buddy John to New York City for 5 whole days. By the gods, I definitely need a break; and I am definitely looking forward to those.
  • I guess that’s about it… but I am sure I will think of 2 more things as soon as I hit publish, so maybe not…. What are y’all up to these days?

"pointless", all about me, friends, happenings, is it just me?, mixed media, music musings, music suggestion, podcast, the catch-all-egory, venting

just a few random thoughts

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  • Last night, I was invited to partake in a great “bad beer” podcast, and it was a LOT of fun. I really miss hanging out with the people that were a part of it (my old trivia group for the most part), and it was great to finally meet one of the bloggers I have known URL for a while in person. I hope that we get to do more of those types of things in the future. It was funny that our podcast was talking about how bad chelada style beer was, when I am kind of a fan of Miller Chill. In fact, I actually really like it… so long as it is cold. The other beers we tried (Bud Light Lime, Tequiza, and Michelob Ultra Lime and Cactus) were all gross. I’ll let you know when the podcast is up, and you can here the silly fun we had drinking bad beers.
  • I have been having random fits of sneezing. The allergies in Atlanta are nuts, and this year is no exception. I guess there is something to be said about consistency; regardless of how annoying it may be sometimes.
  • On Tuesday night, I went out to dinner with some friends at a new local restaurant, and I did something that I have not done in a LONG time… I left the waiter zero tip. Hear me out… I waited tables for 5+ years at various restaurants, all of which served alcohol. I have NEVER in my life ever told someone that they had to pay for a drink that they determined to be undrinkable. In fact, I often apologized for something that I had no part in; I never was a bartender, and I never made those drinks. However, we always made it right, and made sure the customer was happy each and every time. I ordered a drink that was absolutely disgusting (which shouldn’t have been), and it was a simple bar mistake. I stand by the fact that this is something that I should not have had to pay for; yet, he made me pay for the drink (even though he took the totally full beverage and poured it out). Unfortunately for this establishment, this is a lesson that I have learned about that place, and as such I will not be drinking there ever again; which pretty much means it has moved itself to the bottom of my list of places to go eat. It sucks too, because being a local restaurant, I really want to support it, but I can’t control how restaurants treat their patrons. Having been a waiter myself, I put up with A LOT of mistakes without saying a word, but this was just ridiculous. Oh well… there is sure to be a yelp review to come about the experience!
  • I have to say, that I was a little surprised by who won AI last night. Oh well, the proof is in the pudding; we’ll see when they release their records, right?! George Michael’s performance on the show was AMAZING. Also, is it me, or is Carrie Underwood completely unstoppable? I mean, she is F-I-E-R-C-E fierce! Not only is she beautiful, but she can sing the shit out of anything!! Maybe I need to download her records…
  • Speaking of amazing music, the song that I featured last week, Just Dance, by Lady Gaga, is one of the most amazing songs ever. Seriously, this song is going to be my song of the summer. I have had it on repeat since last week… Loves it.
  • That’s about it… I guess. Anything going on with you that you want to talk about?? Anything questions you want to ask me that are just burning in your brain? Let me know!

"pointless", all about me, is it just me?, music musings, venting

my tender, tender ear canals

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I have extremely tender and sensitive ear canals. You know how you get those “in the ear” ear phones, and they have different sized inserts “for everyone’s comfort”? Well, even the smallest ones hurt my ears.

It has always been something that I have had to “deal with”, but I have been able to avoid the problem for a long time, since I got my awesomely amazing Bose around-the-ear noise canceling headphones. However, since getting lobes pierced last week, I haven’t been able to use my headphones, because they touch my ear lobes, and as such, I have fallen back on my in the ear phones. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I didn’t realize how much they hurt, because I have never had to use them for extended periods of time before.

I even tried using my friend’s amazingly nice Bose in the ear phones, but those hurt too!! I can’t be the only one out there with sensitive ear canals, so I wonder, if you have this problem, what ear phones are you using?? Let me know, so I can run out and get them today; because I can’t live without my music, and having to shove these devil’s swords in my ear is torture!!!